By DAVE O’SULLIVAN
Staff Writer
On X @GDsullysays
Every once in a while a really good high school football team gets a little complacent, starts believing its press clippings a little too much, and maybe doesn’t go 100 percent at practice every day. Maybe they are going 95 percent. And all of a sudden that team gets tripped up, suffers a loss, and gets humbled.
That’s what happened to St. Augustine Prep two weeks ago when the Hermits lost 21-7 to Winslow, which is now the No. 1 team in South Jersey after a thorough 35-7 win over previous No. 1 Millville on Friday night. The Hermits probably feel like they missed an opportunity to show they are the best team in the area, and rightfully so. A win over Winslow would have given them a valid argument to be considered as the top team in the West Jersey Football League.
But that didn’t happen, and the Hermits — the No. 3 ranked team in the South Jersey Glory Days/South Jersey Football Frenzy Show Best 11 rankings — had to refocus quickly as they had No. 4 Mainland Regional coming into town this past weekend.
Yes, the Mustangs were without their top player, Rocco DeBiaso, who sat out the game with an injury, but even he might not have made the difference because of the way the Hermits ran the ball and played defense. They were dominant, and showed they have some DUDES, on both sides of the ball.
I was impressed with their secondary, those guys showed speed, athleticism and the ability to cover big, strong receivers from Mainland. And, boy, did the defensive line get after it, led by senior Damari Simeon, who just last week earned his 21st NCAA Division I scholarship offer. The latest to come calling? Texas A&M. This kid is already a full-grown man at 6-foot-3, 275 pounds. He’s an absolute menace on the line. Mainland did a pretty good job of containing him for the most part, but he still made plenty of plays, and the pressure he put on the quarterback helped lead to four INTs on the back side.
And offensively, if the Hermits can get into a better groove they could be a scary team. Senior running back Julian Turney is 6-3, 220 pounds and no doubt he’ll get more carries as the season wears on. He’s averaging more than six yards per carry and about 18 carries per game. Now that we’re about halfway through the season, expect Prep to start leaning on him a little more.
And the Hermits’ offensive line is downright huge. I mean, look at some of these guys — Joe Tenaglia (6-2, 280); Ethan Muller (6-2, 302); Cameron Greene (6-7, 315). Those guys can get some serious push going up front.
And now, I think — as does coach Pete Lancetta — the Hermits realize what it’s going to take to beat the best teams out there.
“I hate to say it, because nobody wants to lose, but sometimes a loss straightens some things out and makes you see that you have to practice a little better. Things happen for a reason,” Lancetta said after the win over Mainland, harkening back to the loss to Winslow. “Adversity is the best teacher — I always say that. You find out a lot about yourself. And sometimes it ain’t pretty. But I told my guys that I don’t think we were practicing well enough, and it caught up to us (in the loss to Winslow). We certainly could have played better, and that’s on me. But I told them, ‘this is what we have to do.’ They did it, and these are the fruits of their labor. Now they know what it takes. And sometimes it takes a loss to figure out that we have to tighten things up.”
MILLER TIME
In a showcase of the two best teams in South Jersey on Friday night, Winslow’s Cam Miller — a Wisconsin University recruit — had an outstanding game and showed why he’s a big-time recruit. He had 52 yards receiving, including a 30-yard touchdown catch, he added 86 yards of punt returns, and on defense he helped limit University of Alabama recruit Lotzeir Brooks to just four catches for 34 yards.
FIGURING IT OUT
A few weeks ago, Kingsway looked lost in a 30-0 blanking by Camden. Nothing went right for the Dragons. They had a bunch of penalties, rushed for negative yardage, let up points in every quarter. Coach Mark Hendricks must have trashed the tape of that game, because since then the Dragons have gotten back on track and now lead the WJFL Classic Division after wins over Timber Creek, Delsea and Camden Eastside. They haven’t been dropping any jaws offensively, as they’ve scored 16, 14 and 16 points in the last three games, but the defense has been impressive, limiting opponents NOT named Camden to just 8.25 points per game. Senior Tommy DiPietro has led the way with 28 tackles, a forced fumble and fumble recovery, and junior Mason Bryan has a pair of interceptions. Two guys who tend to get overlooked on this defense are seniors Nicolas Worley and Dominic Hibbs. Their numbers don’t jump off the page, but they do a lot of little things that don’t show up in box scores and help keep that defense playing well.
BACK ON TRACK
Atlantic City began the season 0-2, giving up a 12-7 third-quarter lead in a 30-18 loss to Mainland in Week 0 then getting blasted by Millville the next week. But in the last three weeks the Vikings have righted the ship, beating Cedar Creek, Ocean City and Cherokee to break into the South Jersey Football Frenzy Show Best 11 rankings at No. 11. Khajuan “Peaky” Roseborough and Sah’nye “Ice Cup” Degraffenreidt (awesome nicknames, by the way!) have been getting it done. Peaky has thrown for 857 yards in five games while tossing just two picks, and Ice Cup has more than 300 receiving yards and has caught five of Roseborough’s seven touchdown passes. It’s definitely feasible that the Vikings could win out, as they take on Vineland, Eastern and Hammonton in October, and finish the regular season 6-2.
DON’T LOOK NOW, BUT …
There are several teams that still have a shot at a WJFL divisional championship who you might not have thought were even in contention, including Seneca (tied with Paul VI atop the Continental), Woodstown (tied with Glassboro in the Diamond), Cherry Hill West and Eastern (both sub-.500 but only one game behind Pennsauken in the Freedom), Haddon Township (they split with Royal division leaders Clayton and Pitman, so would need some help) and KIPP Cooper Norcross Academy (undefeated in the United along with Bishop Eustace and Holy Cross).
Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sullyglorydays@gmail.com
